Microsoft-Hohm is a web-based program (still in beta mode) that helps residents monitor their homes’ energy efficiency. Hohm collects data on users’ homes like square footage, number of rooms, and year of construction (all available through public records and automatically appear on your Hohm profile when you enter an address), and assigns an energy efficiency score based on available data, where a score of 100 means maximum efficiency.

Hohm displays a user’s home energy efficiency as compared to other houses of similar size and construction located in similar climates. The idea is supposedly to show users how much more efficient they could make their homes, and in turn drive them to make conservation changes.

I regsitered to Hohm and entered data for my house. Unfortunately, Hohm did not automatically link to PG&E and Silicon Valley Power so I could not get all my data within their interface.

There is an option to enter it manually though. Based on typical housing data it still can give you some interesting relevant information. It includes a lot of informative graphics and charts. based on your consumption it gives you advice, very much like what Mint.com does to your financial data.

After Google, Oracle, IBM and my neighbor’s startup, everybody seems to want to monitor your and my home utility consumption. I am sure that Microsoft, like all the others, could care less about your or my personal consumption and how I can save on my utility bill so what is their bigger plan?  Why are they all getting into that business?  I would love to have your insight on this one.

According to the study, the way LEED certification measures adverse health impacts of building materials gives a false impression of the safety of “environmentally friendly” buildings. A building achieves LEED status based on an aggregate score, with some measurements, such as energy efficiency, weighing more towards the final score than others, like air quality.

So a building can achieve the highest LEED certification – Platinum, even if it makes no improvements in indoor air quality, the study states.

“Although the primary stated purposes of the Green Building Council are to promote both energy efficiency and human health, even the Council’s most prestigious Platinum award does little to ensure that hazardous chemicals are kept out of the certified buildings,” said John Wargo, a professor of Risk Analysis and Environmental Policy at Yale University, and the study’s lead author.

The EHHI study actually finds that more energy efficient buildings may actually increase exposure to toxic chemicals since energy conservation often requires reducing air exchange between indoors and outdoors. Very few of the tens of thousands of chemicals that may be found in a building have been federally tested for toxicity, the study said.

Rather than issuing awards of “platinum,” “gold” and so on, the Green Building Council, which administers LEED certification, should require performance within each category (health, energy, sites, neighborhoods, etc.) on a 0-100 scale, according to the study’s recommendations.

The study also recommends that more health scientists and physicians with formal medical, epidemiological and toxicological training be included on the GBC’s board of directors. Currently only one director out of 25 has such a training.

How important do you think it is for LEED to consider indoor hazardous chemicals? Should that be part of the green building code?

Part of IBM Smarter Planet program, the project follows the Smarter Building initiative. The technology analyzes real-time electricity usage including individual appliances and reports it to consumers. Using IBM’s software, homeowners can view online information that displays their electricity use, figures out the cost, and compares it with usage by other people.

Even though the project is supposedly designed to help consumers make better decisions regarding their power needs, the study’s will definitely help researchers monitor people usage and measure their attitudes toward energy conservation. Through this project, IBM can really demonstrate the capacity of its database technology to handle lots of data.  In a simulation, they were able to get 3 million homes sending readings once a minute and capture nearly 50,000 readings per second.

How do you feel about software companies knowing your exact consumption of energy, down to each appliance?

Rebates will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis until the program runs out of the $35.2 million in stimulus funds awarded to the state by the Department of Energy.

News reports have stated that consumers across the country are snapping up government rebates for energy-efficient appliances so quickly that state programs tap out within days or even hours.

Energy commission spokeswoman Amy Morgan said California chose the mail-in rebate scheme, as opposed to a reservation system, to give consumers who complete purchases a fighting chance to obtain a rebate.

Morgan said the commission will evaluate demand for the rebates next week and will install a fund-tracker on its website so that consumers will know how much, if any, funds remain.

PG&E already offers rebates to recycle functioning old appliances, which is a requirement of the new program. When customers arrange for a recycling pick-up, PG&E will provide $35 for old refrigerators or freezers and $25 for old room air conditioners.

Because appliances have components that can be hazardous or toxic, they should be recycled, rather than thrown out.

Do you have any plans to take advantage of the “Cash for Appliance Rebate Program?”

For building certification, you might be more familiar with the LEED certification. LEED is a third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings. LEED gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings’ performance. LEED recognizes performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

Initiated in 1999 by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Department of Energy (DOE), the ENERGY STAR program for buildings was developed to help businesses improve energy management through recognition of energy efficiency and cost-effective measures. Much like LEED, the intent is to spur all parties involved in the design, construction and maintenance of buildings to work together to find energy solutions that are both financially beneficial yet minimize negative impact on the environment.  Offices have been eligible for ENERGY STAR certification since the program began, and since then many commercial facilities and manufacturing plants have been added to the eligibility list, including schools, hospitals, supermarkets and auto assembly plants, to name just a few.

The certification process for an ENERGY STAR certification starts with the use of Portfolio Manager, the EPA’s system helping you track and improve energy efficiency across your entire portfolio of buildings.

Portfolio Manager tracks and assesses energy and water consumption over a 12-month period and determine a building’s level of energy efficiency. The building is then rated by the EPA’s Energy Performance Rating System (EPR) which provides a simple metric to show relative performance based on a 1 to 100 scale. The building is compared to statistically representative models from the Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS), a national survey conducted by the DOE’s Energy Information Administration. Buildings in the upper 25th percentile are eligible for an ENERGY STAR label. The remaining step is to have the building inspected by a third-party, licensed professional engineer, who will verify the building’s energy profile and determine if it meets additional requirements that include air quality, thermal comfort and minimum lighting that meet or surpass current U.S. standards.

By the end of 2009, the number of buildings that have earned the Energy Star label were about 9,000.

Have you or do you know anybody who’s used the Energy Star certification for their building? How long did it take to get certified and how was the process?

There are many energy efficient ways to heat water for your home.  One of the best ways is to change out your existing water heater to a tankless water heater.   Tankless water heaters can be 30% more energy efficient than conventional storage tank water heaters. 

Typically, 2 things happen at home when hot water is needed that impact the environment.  One, is waste of water, a precious natural resource.  For example, everyday we end up wasting multiple gallons of cold water having to wait for the cold water to pass first that’s been sitting in the water pipes the entire night.

Second, a whole lot of gas energy is wasted creating an increase of your household’s carbon footprint.   Why?  Because as the warm water that has been sitting in stand-by mode in the water tank all night starts to get depleted, that action in turn causes the water heater’s pilot flame to kick on, using MORE gas, to put it in higher gear to start heating up MORE hot water.  Here’s the wasteful part: the hot water heater doesn’t stop working until the entire tank is FULL of warm water again even though the demand for hot water has already been satisfied. And, the pilot light continues to burn just to keep a constant supply of heated water all day in the water tank.

Now here’s the beauty of a tankless water heater and why it is more energy efficient:  It works without the use of the traditional, bulky hot water storage tank AND it only heats the water upon demand therefore using energy more efficiently and decreasing the impact on the environment.   The advantage is threefold:  First, you no longer need the big, unsightly, traditional water storage tank which will free up space in your garage.  Next, the water is heated only on demand and because they do not store a reservoir of hot water there are no stand-by losses. Last, you can use an electric water heater that uses heating coils to heat the water instead of having to use gas to fuel the pilot light and flame that is otherwise needed to heat an entire tank of water.    In electric tankless water heaters heating coils are used so only the amount of cold water needed passes through the heating coils before the hot water is dispersed to wherever it is needed.

There are plenty of tankless options depending on your household’s usage requirements.   You can either install a “whole house” or several smaller ones in the areas that are close to where the demand of hot water would be (in the kitchen under the sink) or separate ones at appliances that would need them like a dishwasher or clothes washer.  

Switching to a tankless water heater can save you between 25% to 50% on your annual energy bill because gas is no longer needed to keep a constant supply of hot water in stand-by mode when hot water is not needed. 

At home, women and teenagers will love it! No more running out of hot water in the morning! Your wallet will love it too!   See if a tankless water heater is right for you.   And if you’re already using a tankless water heater, post a comment to let us know how that’s working for you.

 The proposed solution is able to replace current lamps and does not require any electrical supply.

          HOW DOES IT WORK?

The solar blind creates a link between indoor and outdoor, taking the daylight during the day and giving it back at night. The advantage of the Venetian blind is that it has a large surface exposed to sunlight in a small, cumbersome object. With the revolving blades we can follow the course of the sun in order to catch a maximum of energy. Furthermore, we can adjust the position of the lamp to obtain various lighting effects. The produced energy can be used to supply a computer or other devices, by means of an inverter.

 The object will combine two newly-discovered technologies: Flexible solar cells, and electroluminescent foil which requires little energy. Blight is durable and ecological because power cables are not needed and solar power is clean. This improved Venetian blind could be used in the household as well as in office applications.

This new solution is not without questions.  What will be the cost of such blinds?  How durable will the technology be? I don’t know what will come out of this project but the concept is intriguing enough that I will follow up with them and see if they ever decide to manufacture the solution. 

How does it work?
Well, the new energy monitor allows your electronic devices to broadcast their energy consumption directly to your Twitter account. The gadget does not save energy per se, but really makes you aware of how much energy is being spent by your devices at home. Afterall,  awareness is the first step toward taking action for any cause including saving energy.

The cool thing is that the device is being released as an “Open source hardware” project – which means that anybody can make and modify the device or even make a commercial product from it.

It very much the same idea as linking the SmartMeter with Google PowerMeter. You get to monitor consumption for each of your devices. The only difference seems to be is that the fact that it is broadcasting the data to Twitter instead of the Web for reporting (Google PowerMeter). You can learn more about the SmartMeter and Google PowerMeter’s project in my Can Google Help Us Conserve Energy? blog post.

Another great by-product from this new invention is that the younger generation, who are already inclined to using tools and gadgets available on the web, will most likely engage in energy conservation using this tool by virtual social competition.

I would love to hear how useful such gadgets would be for you.